Grand Maester Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Some time over the last couple weeks I suddenly acquired two new directories in my C-Drive root folder. I don't think I need them because I haven't made any significant configuration changes but I want to check with the wise ones at Neowin before I go and do something potentially stupid. The two directories are: Inetpub and 974b2d29dc48f032b62e7ee97ab6fe32 A google search on the first one brought up references that described it as part of the windows server platform and talked about it having some role in facilitating the functioning of a network. I don't have a network...well unless you count the wireless router I use to connect to the internet, which I don't - so I'm not sure why it would suddenly be there when it never was before. The second one appears to be a reference to the registry but I'm not sure why it has a folder in the root directory or what that may mean. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
gollux Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 The second folder is a leftover from one of your Microsoft updates. There will be files left in it that will give some indication of which service patch produced it. It's not uncommon to have a couple of these floating around after a year or two. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591001052 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakem1 Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Inetpub contains the directory structure required for IIS. Did you switch this on in Programs and Features recently? Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591001086 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Maester Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 Inetpub contains the directory structure required for IIS. Did you switch this on in Programs and Features recently? I don't know what IIS is so I can't say for certain that I didn't turn in it on but if I did it wasn't knowingly. But the underlying question for me isn't so much how they got there (although that would probably be good to know), but rather whether I can safely delete them. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591005092 Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmatic Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I don't know what IIS is internet information services .... like a web server on your computer Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591005118 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Maester Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 The second folder is a leftover from one of your Microsoft updates. There will be files left in it that will give some indication of which service patch produced it. It's not uncommon to have a couple of these floating around after a year or two. So can I get rid of it? Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591005134 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Maester Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 internet information services .... like a web server on your computer Why would my personal pc (forgive the apparent redundancy there) need to operate like a server? Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591005174 Share on other sites More sharing options...
omganinja Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Why would my personal pc (forgive the apparent redundancy there) need to operate like a server? So you can host a web site on it... Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591005182 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Maester Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 So you can host a web site on it... Ok but I'm not doing that, so I don't get why it showed up. Nonetheless, can I delete the files? Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591007066 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Ok but I'm not doing that, so I don't get why it showed up.Nonetheless, can I delete the files? No, turn off IIS in the Windows components first. Then you'll find out quickly enough which program you installed turned it on for oyu when it fails to function normally. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591036374 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Maester Posted May 28, 2009 Author Share Posted May 28, 2009 No, turn off IIS in the Windows components first. Then you'll find out quickly enough which program you installed turned it on for oyu when it fails to function normally. Ok so can I take a leap and say that it's ok to remove it because at worst it'll just get replaced? What about the other folder, the one with the string of hex digits? Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591051092 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Ok so can I take a leap and say that it's ok to remove it because at worst it'll just get replaced? I can't even fathom how you got that from what I posted. Do what I said, not what you said. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591055192 Share on other sites More sharing options...
shockz Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Is IIS on? Turn the feature off instead. Just make sure Internet Information Services is unchecked and press ok Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591055452 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Maester Posted May 29, 2009 Author Share Posted May 29, 2009 I can't even fathom how you got that from what I posted. Do what I said, not what you said. I didn't get that from what you said, that's why I said it was a leap, but my question wasn't whether I could turn it off but whether I could remove the file. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591055986 Share on other sites More sharing options...
redvamp128 Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Did you install office?- I know in the past that folder was created when I would install office. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591056010 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Maester Posted May 29, 2009 Author Share Posted May 29, 2009 Is IIS on?Turn the feature off instead. Just make sure Internet Information Services is unchecked and press ok That appears to be Vista (I could be wrong), I have XP. Could somebody clarify whether I'm looking at an image from XP? Did you install office?- I know in the past that folder was created when I would install office. Yes but I'm almost certain (like 99.999%) that it's far more recent than that? Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591056024 Share on other sites More sharing options...
shockz Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 That appears to be Vista (I could be wrong), I have XP. Could somebody clarify whether I'm looking at an image from XP?Yes but I'm almost certain (like 99.999%) that it's far more recent than that? The steps should be similar. IIRC - Go to the Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs - On the left bar there should be an icon for add/remove features (or turn on/off features). Go ahead and click that. - See if you can find the IIS/Internet Information Services feature and see if its turned on. If it is, go ahead and uncheck it. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591056036 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I didn't get that from what you said, that's why I said it was a leap, but my question wasn't whether I could turn it off but whether I could remove the file. Yes, but instead of leaping, look once in a while. Check on what I asked you, it's your safest route. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591056280 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Maester Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 The steps should be similar.IIRC - Go to the Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs - On the left bar there should be an icon for add/remove features (or turn on/off features). Go ahead and click that. - See if you can find the IIS/Internet Information Services feature and see if its turned on. If it is, go ahead and uncheck it. It is checked but there are a bunch of individual components under that broad heading some of which were active long before I ever saw that folder in C-Drive (for example the smtp service which I'm pretty sure I need active for Outlook). Which one should I turn off? Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591059600 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted June 1, 2009 Veteran Share Posted June 1, 2009 (edited) Do what Joel said and stop the IIS service in your services. Once stopped use your applications for a while to see if any of them fail out, if none fail you can remove IIS using the above method that shockz gave you and you can delete any and all folders in the inetpub directory (including the inetpub directory). If something doesn't work that you want working then you cannot delete the inetpub directory or delete any folders under the inetpub directory. To stop and disable the iis service from starting. Go to services, under administrative tools in control panel, and go down to world wide web publishing service (it is listed alphabetically and is located with the rest of the "W"s towards the bottom). Edited June 2, 2009 by warwagon Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591069168 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Maester Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 :argh: the denseness is increadible. Do what Joel said and stop the IIS service in your services. Once stopped use your applications for a while to see if any of them fail out, if none fail you can remove IIS using the above method that shockz gave you and you can delete any and all folders in the inetpub directory (including the inetpub directory). If something doesn't work that you want working then you cannot delete the inetpub directory or delete any folders under the inetpub directory. To stop and disable the iis service from starting. Go to services, under administrative tools in control panel, and go down to world wide web publishing service (it is listed alphabetically and is located with the rest of the "W"s towards the bottom). Hope that makes logical sense to you. Thanks! You may not realize it but you actually just gave the couple pieces of information I've been trying to get for at least the last couple posts (and one since my first post). Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591070008 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Thanks!You may not realize it but you actually just gave the couple pieces of information I've been trying to get for at least the last couple posts (and one since my first post). Like the info 4 posts up? - Go to the Control Panel- Add/Remove Programs - On the left bar there should be an icon for add/remove features (or turn on/off features). Go ahead and click that. - See if you can find the IIS/Internet Information Services feature and see if its turned on. If it is, go ahead and uncheck it. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591074816 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Maester Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 Like the info 4 posts up? No, doing that would have disabled a bunch of components, some of which have been active long before the folder showed up. That last post told me which particular subcomponent to disable. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591082424 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Maester Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 The second folder is a leftover from one of your Microsoft updates. There will be files left in it that will give some indication of which service patch produced it. It's not uncommon to have a couple of these floating around after a year or two. So can I get rid of it? Can anyone tell me whether I can get rid of this? Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591082466 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted June 3, 2009 Veteran Share Posted June 3, 2009 sure Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/773006-new-folders-suddenly-appeared-in-c-drive-root-folder/#findComment-591082840 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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